Guild Wars 2

Below is a Necromancer’s take on Living World episode.

Siren’s Landing is very much anti-minion. I am not sure if this was accidental or an intentional correction to Necromancer’s PvE capability but reclaimed essence destroys all minions and there are no events or reliquaries where minions offer any benefit. In most cases, minions are a severe dps or sustain loss. At least, this is my first impression.

I experimented with several builds while completing the new map and came away with the following notes:

• Siren’s Landing is strongly anti-minion (no easy-mode for Necromancer)
• Balthazar likes burning. My Necro seriously struggled with the quantity of burning stacks and the rate of application even after maximizing condition transfers.

I will add to this as I continue testing SL as a Necromancer and working out a specialized build for it but feel free to add your own notes.

For strait solo PvE I enjoy minions as well and was sorely disappointed that they were of no worth in the new area.

I may be way off base, but I don’t know any zone that renders a huge part of a classes utilities useless.

It hurts minion builds where the player relies on them for damage. For other builds, it’s not really that much of an impact.

Perhaps they’ll make players’ minion immune to it along with whenever they resolve the server lag on that map.

I do not think it likely Arenanet will make minions immune at any point in the future. The mechanics of Siren’s Landing seem harsh on pets of any profession.

Here are some examples.
Balthazar’s shrine will roast anything that cannot dodge a red circle.
Dwayna’s shrine is almost all gliding.
Grenth and Melandru use ley organs.
Lyssa has those confusing portals and some gliding which delays pet actions.

The map seems intent on filtering out pet contributions to dps and sustain, which may make it a research map for the balance team. Though easier, it has similarities to raid maps.

Interesting. So far I’ve only been there on Daredevil so of course noticed nothing of this sort. My next alt to go through the story is a Reaper who uses Rise! quite a bit.

Do the above concerns show up with the little Rise! minions?

! The special gliding in Dwayna’s area also destroys necro minions.

First i thought that the Balthazar area, specially the fire golems, kill minions very fast.
But with another char i had more difficulty staying alive there.
So dmg in Balthazar area is higher in general.

So Engie will not be able to use Turrets or Gyros either, eh?

Ardid.7203:

So Engie will not be able to use Turrets or Gyros either, eh?

No. The special skills kill undead. The turrets and gyros are machines, so it should have no effect on them.

I created a thread about this very topic. Look it may not be the best option, but Blood can work in a pinch with power. Or just use the healer minion and minor minions, on a couple I spec’d more corruption and took swampland, worked fine for condi and that was with viper gear. Or as a last resort don’t use the ley-line organs then you’re minions will be fine except for flying area. Good luck.

Egrimm Van Horstmann.7921:

I created a thread about this very topic. Look it may not be the best option, but Blood can work in a pinch with power. Or just use the healer minion and minor minions, on a couple I spec’d more corruption and took swampland, worked fine for condi and that was with viper gear. Or as a last resort don’t use the ley-line organs then you’re minions will be fine except for flying area. Good luck.

I’m running around SL with no trouble on something along those lines (including minion elite). The essence effect is a nuisance if it procs at the wrong time, but mostly I haven’t found it much trouble so far. Basically, it just feels like it needs a slightly different cadence – plan to summon minions during fights rather than mostly ahead of them; stay in combat until the immediate area’s clear enough to give breathing space, so that the minions stay up while they’re needed; then let the essence proc, and if necessary take a few seconds to run down the clocks on the minion skills ahead of the next fight(s). Can’t really speak for how much damage I’m doing compared to other zones, but I’m taking out mobs OK, and my survivability still seems fine.

Ayrilana.1396:

It hurts minion builds where the player relies on them for damage. For other builds, it’s not really that much of an impact.

Perhaps they’ll make players’ minion immune to it along with whenever they resolve the server lag on that map.

It hurts minion builds of any flavor. I rely on minions to take my damage, .uptick my bleed stacks and steal health for me more than do any direct damage. But they can’t do that if they’re getting wiped out constantly because I picked something up or are in a Balthazar temple.

Squee.7829:

Ayrilana.1396:

It hurts minion builds where the player relies on them for damage. For other builds, it’s not really that much of an impact.

Perhaps they’ll make players’ minion immune to it along with whenever they resolve the server lag on that map.

It hurts minion builds of any flavor. I rely on minions to take my damage, .uptick my bleed stacks and steal health for me more than do any direct damage. But they can’t do that if they’re getting wiped out constantly because I picked something up or are in a Balthazar temple.

I ran necro for dailies on that map and never had issues.

Ayrilana.1396:

Squee.7829:

Ayrilana.1396:

It hurts minion builds where the player relies on them for damage. For other builds, it’s not really that much of an impact.

Perhaps they’ll make players’ minion immune to it along with whenever they resolve the server lag on that map.

It hurts minion builds of any flavor. I rely on minions to take my damage, .uptick my bleed stacks and steal health for me more than do any direct damage. But they can’t do that if they’re getting wiped out constantly because I picked something up or are in a Balthazar temple.

I ran necro for dailies on that map and never had issues.

I don’t have issues on it either. I just avoid using minions in some areas.

I wouldn’t be suprised if ArenaNet is trying to make minions less popular.. currently there is almost no Necro in PvE that isn’t a leeching minion train and it has been that way since pretty much launch, they want you to play other builds too.

How many Necromancers did you know who made their character because of the lore and not so they could get fast and easy XP and loot?

It reminds me alot of the Ranger bearbow meta.

Minions already take a small amount of AoE damage compared to players, so I’m not sure how you expect them to fix this. Its not like they can just eliminate the threat to other classes to make the minions survive the onslaught.

I do agree they should fix the ley organ thing though, that’s just wrong.

Ayrilana.1396:

Squee.7829:

Ayrilana.1396:

It hurts minion builds where the player relies on them for damage. For other builds, it’s not really that much of an impact.

Perhaps they’ll make players’ minion immune to it along with whenever they resolve the server lag on that map.

It hurts minion builds of any flavor. I rely on minions to take my damage, .uptick my bleed stacks and steal health for me more than do any direct damage. But they can’t do that if they’re getting wiped out constantly because I picked something up or are in a Balthazar temple.

I ran necro for dailies on that map and never had issues.

Well, that’s settled then. No need to provide any detail on how you’re playing or what minions you’re using or where or how. Just state it doesn’t exist and the problem is solved.

Zoltar MacRoth.7146:

Ayrilana.1396:

Squee.7829:

Ayrilana.1396:

It hurts minion builds where the player relies on them for damage. For other builds, it’s not really that much of an impact.

Perhaps they’ll make players’ minion immune to it along with whenever they resolve the server lag on that map.

It hurts minion builds of any flavor. I rely on minions to take my damage, .uptick my bleed stacks and steal health for me more than do any direct damage. But they can’t do that if they’re getting wiped out constantly because I picked something up or are in a Balthazar temple.

I ran necro for dailies on that map and never had issues.

Well, that’s settled then. No need to provide any detail on how you’re playing or what minions you’re using or where or how. Just state it doesn’t exist and the problem is solved.

Viper necro build.

I ran a viper necro through there and to be honest with only two minions it was a breeze. Healing minion and devour one. I’m curious how much the nerf is going to affect the build though.

I’ve swapped out my blood fiend for Your Soul is Mine! because I got tired of resummoning it after every fight. My Rise! minions seem to still do something for me but it’s harder to track their effect so I can’t be sure.

My main Reaper is my go-to for all the new maps for long-term play in them but I’m thinking I’ll want to find something else for Siren’s Landing. Though she’s doing ok, I’m just annoyed my favorite build isn’t 100% useful like it is elsewhere.

I am sure nobody is arguing Siren’s Landing is impossible to do with Necro. but because the essence kills minions, it is extremely annoying if you run minion master or you swap to different build. Annoying and stupid.

Why would mechanic is one map suddenly prevent one type of build?

Let’s suppose PoF map has mechanic that prevents all the shouts. Or all the hammers. Or hitting any enemies at melee range. That would be equally pointless and annoying.

I have been running the temples with Soldier’s armor with Rune of the Reaper, Berserker trinkets and weapons, and a Reaper shout build: Spite, Soul Reaping, Reaper and Axe-horn/greatsword. I can swap Spite and horn for Curses w/ sceptre-dagger and Deathly Chill or swap Spite for Blood Magic for casual support at Balthazar’s temple.

FogLeg.9354

Small correction, three LS3 maps actually did this. The ley line charge of the glider in Bloodstone Fen and Lake Doric also wiped minions.

Thanks, I have not finished ley line gliding yet, so I did not know about that.

This is a general problem with all transform based skills and attacks.. it’s been a major pain for a long time..

Transforms tend to insta destroy minions and pets.. some have been reworked not to such as the trap chains in dungeons and fractals but others such as these reclaimed essences and the last boss in the ice fractal who can popsicle you have not.. so getting transformed by these things will insta kill your adds.

I found it highly annoying too, so I ended up using alternative methods to complete the Hearts. The Shrine events help a lot; lots of enemies spawn in close proximity, and every bit of reclaimed essence you turn in also counts towards the Heart’s completion. On my Necro, I only pick up Ley Energy if I absolutely have to.

That said, I’d definitely support a change so that it doesn’t destroy minions, especially considering your minion skills are still there on your bar!

Yeah devs thx… Pound necros harder into the Dirt while laughing on us and trolling the hell out of this class…..

seriously why are we still playing necros at this point ? seems like Devs dont want this class to even exist at all….

Hannelore.8153:

How many Necromancers did you know who made their character because of the lore and not so they could get fast and easy XP and loot?

I’m one. My first toon was a necro. He’s also my favorite since they nerfed ranger into oblivion with the Druid specialization.

I sure hope it’s an unintended bug that they (eventually) fix. Targeting one profession over all the others just isn’t right.

Regarding picking up a ley organ, my first preference would be that doing so would not destroy minions. But if that’s not possible, my second preference would be that they just “go into hiding” like the ranger’s pet does when you pick up a ley organ. When you’re done with the ley organ, they would reappear.